Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Lucius Annaeus Senecawas a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature...
NationalityRoman
ProfessionStatesman
friend friends-or-friendship sure themselves
Those that are a friend to themselves are sure to be a friend to all.
everywhere foreign friends-or-friendship spends time
Everywhere is nowhere. When a person spends all his time in foreign travel, he ends by having many acquaintances, but no friends.
benefits command few freedom friend great ourselves thankful
We can be thankful to a friend for a few acres, or a little money; and yet for the freedom and command of the whole earth, and for the great benefits of our being, our life, health, and reason, we look upon ourselves as under no obligation.
beautiful friendship friends-or-friendship qualities understand
One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.
bottom economy economy-and-economics late
Economy is too late when you are at the bottom of your purse.
drag fate fates lead
The fates lead the willing, and drag the unwilling.
sentiments
Nothing is so contemptible as the sentiments of the mob.
men
It is the superfluous things for which men sweat.
dislike great measure mind prefer sign
It is the sign of a great mind to dislike greatness, and prefer things in measure to things in excess.
quality quantity rather
It is the quality rather than the quantity that matters.
enjoy mar pleasure pleasures present
So enjoy present pleasures as to not mar those to come.
abandoned both desires limits moderation nature resources restricted sign utter
That moderation which nature prescribes, which limits our desires by resources restricted to our needs, has abandoned the field; it has now come to this - that to want only what is enough is a sign both of boorishness and of utter destitution.
acts both cause happiness itself matter mind
The mind is a matter over every kind of fortune; itself acts in both ways, being the cause of its own happiness and misery.
age age-and-aging despicable lived man offer proof
There is nothing more despicable than an old man who has no other proof than his age to offer of his having lived long in the world.